Halloween

There's something about Halloween night that's just magical for kids.  Danica and Devin enjoyed trick or treating together.  Drew went trick or treating with a group of friends. Dayton stayed home and watched The Ring with his friend Brandon.  Since this was Dallin's last Halloween at home we wanted to do something memorable, so Dallin and I went to see Ender's Game on opening night. Ender's Game is his favorite book and one of my favorites as well. (We do have an edited copy.)

In Utah you can carve your jack o'lantern a few weeks before Halloween.  But here in Texas it starts to get rotten after just a few days so you have to wait until the last minute.  Can't you must smell that freshly cut-open pumpkin smell?

We have such simple costumes.  Every year we just pull out the big costume bin and the kids find something that fits.  Maybe some year they'll want something elaborate, but I'm not complaining.

Traditionally we stop by to see Janet (a friend from work), a single woman who loves to see the kids.  She gave them both tons of candy, upgraded Danica's plastic candy bag to a bright pink shopping bag and even had a present for them!  She's so sweet!

Check out Danica's stash.

Dell Halloween Party

The Dell HR department had a Halloween party today.  Drew wasn't too excited to be coming, but I wanted him to see where Dad worked. (Actually the only way I got him there was to make him a deal that I'd drop him off to play football at the school with some friends and pick him up on our way to the party.  He was pretty muddy when I came back for him-great way to showcase my child to Dave's co-workers, huh?)  When his friend Tristan showed up, he bee-lined with an expression of relief!

Danica could have stayed at the craft table all afternoon.  She did one of each craft and came back later to make more of each.

The kids trick-or-treated to the workers. 

Drew found the food table and a few fellow "old kids."   The kids had a lot of fun and it was nice to go see the people Dave works with since I only see them a few times a year.

Drew's First Extra Point Kick

Drew's seventh grade football team has grown a lot from its first game.  They actually pass the ball now(and occasionally even catch it).  The coach also finally allowed them to attempt extra point kicks.  Drew was so excited that he would have the chance to kick.  His kick looked good and went through the upright.  All the parents were so impressed and wanted to know it that was Drew who just kicked.  He sure loves sports.  He went after school today to play football at the fields with some friends and came home to excited that he'd made a 38 yd field goal.

Dayton's Allergies

I took Dayton to see the doctor this morning.  He's had red, itchy eyes for several weeks.  By the end of the school day, his eyes bothered him so much that he felt light headed and had a hard time concentrating.  We knew it wasn't pink eye, but the drops we were using didn't seem to help enough.  The doctor gave us the name for an over the counter drop.  We sure hope it helps resolve the allergy.  This was the first time Dayton has experienced eye allergies.

Drew's First Youth Temple Trip

First youth temple trip for Andrew Tidwell, Drew, Jonathan Pew, and Tristan Mott.  We had a large group of youth go down.  Dayton was at a band competition and Dallin was working (ref), so Drew was the only one from our family to go.  They had a nice trip and stopped for pizza on the way home. The San Antonio Temple has become so dear to me.  Dave and I have developed the habit of attending each month.

BYU vs Houston Football Game Weekend

We've been looking forward to this weekend for a long time!  The BYU football team rolled into town Friday night for the fireside.  Dave took all the kids but Dayton (who had a band conflict) plus Preston McCullough (friend) down for the fireside.  They loved it. Bronco gave a great talk and several of the players also spoke.  Drew got his ball signed by quarterback Taysom Hill.  

When I picked Dayton up from the high school football game at 11pm he asked what time we were leaving in the morning to go down.  I told him that I had already packed his bag, had put it in the trunk, and we could leave right then if he wanted to.  He got a great big grin and said, Lets Go!  I had taken a little nap and gotten all packed up so we could travel down that night.  The drive down was a bit precarious with heavy rain.  We arrived at the hotel at 1:30am.  (We had originally intended to stay with Russ and Jen but decided to just get a hotel when we learned they'd been fighting lice.)  Danica wasn't in the hotel room when I got there and I learned that she was having a slumber party with Aunt Suzanne who had a room right down the hall from us.  Dave and Suzanne found each other when the fire alarm went off at 11pm and they were both wandering the halls wondering if there was an emergency, which there wasn't.

Dayton and I were glad to be there to eat breakfast with the rest of the family.  We all donned our cougar shirts and enjoyed the yummy hotel breakfast.

It was so fun to have Suzanne along at the hotel.  Staying in a hotel had been a bit of a last minute decision and I hadn't wasn't sure if she had decided to join us, so I was excited to hear she had.

This is Devin's plate at the end of breakfast.  Apparently his eyes were much bigger than his stomach and the brothers who were sitting beside him didn't notice that he kept getting more food, or maybe helped cause the problem.

We got to Reliant Stadium about 11:30 for the pregame festivities.  The place is huge!

We met up with Jon and Olivia right away.  We had lunch at a conference center across from the stadium.  There was music, games, and BYU trivia. Dave got in on a trivia question game and answered correctly.

Dayton was chosen to play minute-to-win-it.  He got to wear this attractive pantyhose on his head and knock over water bottles.  He took first place and won... 

a cougar t-shirt.  Way to go Dayton! Such talent.

We were glad to have Russ's family arrive. 

This balloon sword (orange is his favorite color) entertained Devin for hours before succumbing to the fate of all balloon toys.  It could well be what he remembers from this weekend. 

Finished up at the tailgate party complete with balloon toys and painted faces.  Ready to watch some football!

The boys had fun throwing the football around the plaza. 

The game was crazy!  The score by the end of the first quarter was 24-21.  There was plenty to rise and shout about.  The game was close right down to the end.  BYU scored to take the lead with only 1:08 left then intercepted a Houston pass to clinch the win.  Drew and Dayton were hoarse for days.

We had a great cheer leading section of girl cousins which made Dancia deliriously happy.

So fun to be all together!  A special thanks to my honey Dave for taking all of us and working so hard each day to provide for us!

The five Texas Shurtz's.  How'd we get so spoiled to have so many of us live this close!! 

My cousin Ben Todd was there with his family, Jon and Olivia, Russ and his family, Suzanne and her friend Mike, and Dave made for a big group.  We went down after the game for high fives from the players.

We asked Devin why his eyes were closed in this picture and he said, "the sun was in my eyes."  When we pointed out the rather obvious fact that the sun wasn't shining he said," I mean the moon was in my eyes."  

Our big group stopped at Cici's pizza for dinner.  That's always a good way to fill up lots of empty tanks.  It was such a fun weekend together! 

Back at the hotel that night, there was more fire alarm excitement.  The blaring fire alarm went off for an hour from 12-1am!  Gratefully, some of us (me!) slept right through it.  Dave went out to verify that there really was no emergency and then let me sleep.  Gratefully, the hotel comp-ed our night's stay.

Sunday morning we had breakfast and went to church.  Sitting by Dave in church is always a perk when we're on vacation. Since we had two cars, we sent all the kids with Dallin, so Dave and I had a nice peaceful drive home. We spent the afternoon at the park on a beautiful fall day, the boys throwing a football with Dave and Danica playing on the playground.  Having a happy family and spending time together all weekend made me think:  Heaven must be something like this.

Debbie's Birthday

I had such a nice birthday.  Some of the highlights were the phone calls/texts from each of my eight siblings-that's a lot of phone calls!  My parents even called from Hawaii, which I wasn't expecting.  That brief call sure made me feel special.  Spending the day surrounded by my own family made the day perfect.  Dallin didn't have school until 1:30.  He kept me company at home working on an AP Psychology paper.  He had to diagnose fictional characters and chose the animals from the Hundred Acre Woods.  It was pretty entertaining to see my high school senior watching Winnie the Pooh videos!  We watched a little Studio C together and he worked on his DDR moves to get a little exercise.  If only he were so enthusiastic about stake dances.  :)  It's a bit of a reality check to think that next year he'll be on his mission...and that I'll be turning 40.  I really cherished those hours with just him home today.

We went out to dinner to a place where kids eat free on Wednesdays, Los Serranos.  We eat out together so rarely that it really was a special treat.  

We picked Dayton up from band practice at 6 and went straight to dinner.  He worked on homework while we waited for our food.  It was a perilous adventure for him to avoid getting salsa, water, or rootbeer spilled on his paper!  Drew ordered off the kids meal for probably the last time in his life since his 13th birthday is coming up next month.  Gratefully he ate enough chips and salsa to help fill him up. 

 Back home we had cake, ice cream, presents, and cards.  Another memorable thing about the evening was that due to the rain, all of the soccer practices were cancelled, yeah!  Having the evening together as a family was so nice.  Danica made me not one, but four cards, each with a game, maze or word scramble.  Her "all things girl" is such a welcome breeze around here.  Thanks to Dave and everyone else for making it such a special day!

Drew Football at Westview

We are having fun watching Drew play football.  They played at Westview today.

Columbus Day-Cellulose and Glitter

Columbus day is one of those holidays that seem like just extra days off.  Nothing is ever planned for the day, leaving it open to just enjoy without being over scheduled.  Dayton needed the day to work on a science project.  Here's his Cellulose molecule, which took 5 hours and $40.  With my background in Chemistry (Chemistry minor) this was right up my alley.  I was surprised at how much detail the teacher required for the project.  Dayton and I sure "bonded" over the project!

Danica had some friends over for the day. They decorated my kitchen floor in the latest look:  sparkles.  They had fun building necklaces and doing art with glitter.

Dallin took Drew, Danica, and Devin to the dollar movie while Dayton had an orthodontist appointment and worked on his project. They saw and enjoyed Despicable Me 2.

Dayton's Band Competition

We're still new to marching band.  This was our first competition that we've attended.  The band did great.  They took third overall and second in marching and music performance.  The whole performance is 9 minutes.  I posted several segments worth here.  The theme for their performance is The War of Art. 

 In true "marching band takes up your whole life" fashion, we dropped Dayton off at the school Saturday at 8:45am and he returned home at 11:45 pm.  He was drenched from a rainstorm and exhausted but had had a great time!

Devin's Soccer

Devin is having such a fun soccer season!  He loves to play.

Here's a big smile after a goal. 

Here's a goal. 

Cheering Drew On

We took the little kids to cheer for Drew's football team.  They had fun playing in the stands.

And playing with friends who shared their treats. 

Drew's always fairly easy to spot, just look for that blond hair!

Probably one of his best kicks yet!  He also got to do a squib kick, on-side kick and play defense. 

 His one time in as safety, he tracked down a defender and pushed him out of bounds at the 1 yard line.

FHE and Donuts

Every so often we go back through the family rules to get everyone on the same page.  So for FHE we covered house rules about how we treat each other and how to keep our home a happy place to be.

Dallin had plenty of smart, dry comments like, "must be tough making rules for yourself" and "this is revolutionary, I've never heard this before."  But the smile on his face always says aren't you so glad you have a teenager in the house?

Danica helped make the dessert.  We ended up having quite a bit of pudding, since she thought she needed to add the two cup measuring cup of milk twice to get two cups.  So we just added more pudding mix until it was back to full strength and nobody seemed to mind having extra.

Being a mom is the best job in the world.  I love hearing about their days at school, making after school snacks, being their cheerleader, etc.  I don't even mind the mountains of laundry or the early morning hours to have breakfast for Dayton at 5:30 and a lunch packed and ready to go.  I know that all too soon the kids will grow up and our home will be quiet.

Studio C (comedy show on KBYU tv has started up again!) 

Little Devin always goes to sleep with his fan and a book.

All year, we've been making donuts on fast Sunday.  The kids love this tradition.  We try to invite another family or two to join us.  

Devin is in a big game craze.  He loves to play checkers, Waterworks, and Duck duck goose. Each day after school he asks me to play something with him.  I stop what I'm doing and enjoy this little sweet guy.  He loves to have me fly him like an airplane on my legs, too.  It's so fun to still have him little.